FILMS

Rickover: The Birth of Nuclear Power will broadcast on PBS, December 9th at 8 p.m. (check local listings).

Admiral Hyman G. Rickover was a flamboyant maverick, a unique American hero. When few thought it possible, then-Captain Rickover harnessed the power of the atom to drive the first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, whose trip under the polar ice pack was one of the great adventure stories of the 1950s. Later, Rickover built the world's first nuclear aircraft carrier and the first commercial nuclear power plant. Today, when questions about nuclear power have arisen again in the wake of the disaster in Japan, we would do well to consider the story of the man who started it all: Hyman G. Rickover.

The Last 600 Meters, a 90-minute documentary, looks at the two biggest battles of the Iraq war, Najaf and Fallujah, through the firsthand testimony of those who fought them. It offers perspectives on these battles, and lessons for warfare in the future.

2008; 90 minutes; high definition

Release to be announced, check this site for release updates and purchasing information

Rediscovering Alexander Hamilton is the second in our "Rediscovering" series. Richard Brookhiser returns as host. Beginning life as an illegitimate immigrant from the West Indies, Hamilton was a self-made man. As the first Treasury Secretary, Hamilton's service to the nation went far beyond setting up a branch of government. Then his life ended in the most famous duel in American history. We live in the still unfolding two-century-long boom that he began.

Rediscovering George Washington takes the two-dimensional man out of our wallets and explores his character. Host Richard Brookhiser talks to a former President, anti-tax rebels, and the descendants of slaves; he goes to industrial Brooklyn, the Oscars, and a two-hundred-year-old still.